Draft presents this Dolphins regime its toughest challenge

No second-round pick and plenty of work still to do

Well, in the NFL, if you build something, you own that too — its strengths, weaknesses, successes, failures.

And, as the 2010 NFL Draft begins, Bill Parcells, Jeff Ireland and Tony Sparano are now quite close to owning these Dolphins.

They have replaced all but 12 players they inherited, and only six holdovers still have a shot to start. They have drafted 18 players, 16 of which remain, nine could be first-teamers, four play premium positions (quarterback, left tackle, cornerback). They have signed (Karlos Dansby) and acquired (Brandon Marshall) huge names on the free-agent and trade markets. They have been around long enough to twice part ways with a local legend ( Jason Taylor), to experience the best and worst of Joey Porter, to elevate a young quarterback, to change defensive coordinators, even to change the league (the Wildcat).

And so here they are, starting Thursday and continuing through Saturday, at a crossroads in their tenure here, facing a draft that will test them far more than the previous two drafts.

Asked whether he would rate his draft or free-agency work higher, Ireland replied: "I'll let you guys decide that. I really don't think about it." There's not much to think about. Randy Starks and maybe Jake Grove aside, they've been better in the draft. But they have also had some advantages.

In their first year, their first three slots (1, 32, 57) added up to 90. In their second year, their first three slots (25, 44, 61) added up to 130. This year, their first three slots (12, 73, 110) add up to 195. Last year, they got cute early, picking Pat White, knowing they had another second-rounder to follow. This year, they have no second-rounder. They have 10 selections, but six are in the sixth or seventh rounds, where players like Jay Ratliff (a Parcells/Ireland seventh-round steal in Dallas) are once-in-a-career scores.

So now they have less flexibility and less ammunition, unless they can package a veteran (Justin Smiley?) along with a pick. They also don't have surprise and disguise — which they prize — on their side. You can't deceive those who know what you most desire. Without Taylor and Porter, they need young pass-rushers (Sergio Kindle? Derrick Morgan?). After getting snubbed by two free-agent safeties, it's clear they see a need (Earl Thomas?). And, with aging Jason Ferguson gone eight weeks, a nose tackle would be nice ( Dan Williams?).

Another problem? While the best play would be a trade down from No. 12, to accumulate more selections in the second and third rounds, the talent pool is universally deemed rich in that region. That means trade partners, willing to trade assets to move up, could be scarce.

And finally, there's the roster. For the first two years, they had plenty of Nick Saban, Randy Mueller and Cam Cameron players they couldn't wait to replace. In 2010, the choices are tougher. Most men on the roster are there because this regime has seen something in them.

At this stage, the Dolphins are caught in between, too deep into the process to be rebuilding, too far from contention to be reloading, clearly better in the division than the Bills but seemingly a step behind the Jets (best overall talent) and Patriots (best quarterback and 12 draft choices). What they're doing is reshaping, still molding a team to fit their image, even if it's not always completely clear what that image is. They want big and strong, when not taking a flier on White. They want stable characters, when not gambling on Marshall and Richie Incognito.

They want "more good young players," according to Ireland, who characterizes every draft as "extremely important," and possibly "make or break."

This one?

"Right now we're in our third year of this regime," Ireland said. "Extremely important. We feel like we need to make a big jump."

This week, they'll need to jump through plenty of hoops to do it.

Ethan J. Skolnick can be reached at eskolnick@sun-sentinel.com. He will be blogging live from Dolphins headquarters Thursday night on his Season Ticket blog on Sun-Sentinel.com/sports